The name Mingjian originates from a Japanese transliteration of the original Taiwanese Hokkien name, Làm-á (Chinese: 湳仔; pinyin: Nǎnzǎi), with literal meaning "a very wet place".

[2] In 1920, during Japanese rule, the name was changed to Nama (名間) which closely matched the Taiwanese pronunciation but with different kanji (Chinese characters) for the name.

This written form was retained after the Kuomintang takeover of Taiwan in 1945; the characters are pronounced Bêng-kan and Míngjiān in Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese, respectively.

[2] In 2008, the 100th congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Taiwan was organized in Mingjian.

[4] Mingjian includes the villages of Buxia (廍下), Chishui (赤水), Dakeng (大坑), Dazhuang (大庄), Donghu (東湖), Kanjiao (崁腳), Nanya (南雅), Puzhong (埔中), Renhe (仁和), Sanlun (三崙), Songbo (松柏), Songshan (松山), Tanliao (炭寮), Tianzi (田仔), Wandan (萬丹), Xincuo (新厝) Xinguang (新光), Xinjie (新街), Xinmin (新民), Zhongshan (中山), Zhongzheng (中正), Zhuoshui (濁水), Zhuwei (竹圍).